The Slow Road Home
by Dr. cats1991
Summary: Macavity has done the unthinkable, he has slain his father, tortured and broken the tribe leaving them to suffer. The story centers on Rum Tum Tugger, his blossoming family with Bombalurina and the trauma they suffer at Macavity's hand, both initially afterwards and some years later. Bad summary, sorry! I'm also doing this on my phone and I cannot get the page break to work for me.
1. Chapter 1

The fear and trepidation hung around the Yard, thick, heavy and oppressive like the early morning fog that had rolled in. Some of the men had gone in search of Macavity, and the abducted tribe members, but that was three days ago. Now the cats who were left behind set about the task of rebuilding their homes, and piecing back together what they could of their shattered lives. Some cats like Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were making due out of the kindness of others, their home utterly destroyed by the fire the siblings now picked through the remains, trying to rescue anything of sentiment or value. Skimbleshanks, one arm in a sling and his shattered ribs heavily braced helped them. No one spoke, not in the whole Yard, a sickness of the heart having set in like a plague. Deuteronomy was dead, as was Gus the theater cat who had put up a vain fight in his grandchildren's defense, the Yard razed, queens, toms, and kits absconded with; to befall prey to any number of wicked crimes. Many filthy, vile, and unwanted images managed to eke their way into the cats brains as they worked in silence.

Jelly was the first one to see them coming through the fog, her eldest son, Tumblebrutus his hand gripping her shoulder reassuringly as the survivors, worn, and broken stumbled their way into the Yard. The queen whose hands had not long ago buried her leader and then her father trembled with apprehension and a longing to hold her kits. Parents, siblings, children of those who had been stolen away during the Jellilce's most sacred night ran to claim them, wrapping them in strong embraces, and blankets, whispering their love and lamenting at those who shied away. Pouncival clung to his younger sister Etcetera, who cradled a badly broken wrist her fingers a sickly shade of grey.

He released her and took a step back as Jelly rushed towards them seeking to lavish them with affection. "Mom, not now, please!" he said tearily, unable to meet her gaze. She hesitated, taking a step nearer, but nodded, heartbroken as she ushered her children home, knowing fullwell the cruelties of the cat who had stolen her two youngest. Other kittens such as Electra rushed into their families awaiting arms and began sobbing immensely, unable to find words for their joy or relief. Skimble ignored his pain hugging his only child as tightly as his wounds would allow. While older cats like Cassandra, slunk away in silence, their wounds their own. The abyssinian her pride and beautiful face badly damaged by the ordeal struck for home.

Munkustrap, grimly watched the reunions happening about him when Jennyanydots approached with a rag for the gash above his brow. The tom waved her off wincing as she began to tend to him before going on to explain, "You will need to gather your medical supplies, many of them are hurt," he said in a weak tone before holding himself a bit higher as eyes washed over him, knowing that the tribe now looked to him leadership and strength. He, ruefully, felt in that moment as he comfortably gave orders more in control than he had since the attack. "Etcetera's arm will need to be set and-"

Munkus's words were halted as his number two shuffled past with a heavy limp. "Alonzo," he said with a sigh, approaching the tom he had yet to speak to. "It's not your fault, you couldn't have done anything more than you already-" Alonzo, tears standing in his stark grey eyes, and blood staining red the white of his fur glared at his mentor silencing him at once. "If I had been stronger..." he left the rest unspoken his tone bitter and full of hate. Alonzo shook his head solemnly before continuing towards his den. It was then that a bleary eyed Bombalurina rushed to the guardian and took his hands in her own.

"Tugger? Impetuoua?" she asked voice weak and faltering. "Balurina," Munkustrap began sorrowfully. "Impetuoua-" the kit's uncle couldn't bring himself to name the evils wrought upon her young body. "She," he paused again to swallow a hard lump. "She's in a really bad way." he said voice trembling and tears sliding down his striped cheeks. Balurina's fur stood on end as her sister came to comfort her, neither a stranger to the Hidden Paw's sadistic and malicious nature.

The red queen relied on her Demeter's strength to hold her aloft as she nearly fell to her knees at the sight of her husband as he stepped into the clearing, an unmoving bundle held protectivly in his arms, tears streaming down his face as he struggled to hold himself together. Munkustrap remained where he was, trembling with rage and sorrow as the queens made their way to the leopard coated tom as he collapsed to the ground, burying his face in the bundle and wept. "I'm going to kill him!" Tugger wailed. "I'm going to kill him!"

/

Impetuoua's name suited her well. The young vivacious kitten was a laughing, loving ball of energy that kept her parents, the notorious couple of Bombalurina and Rum Tum Tugger forever on their toes. The kit with wide amber eyes, deep red coat, and sporadic leopard spots was currently curled between her parents as they dozed in the early morning light that filtered in through their windows. She flipped and rolled restlessly about as her mind faded away from the realm of dreams and into the world of wakefulness. She opened her eyes and glanced about, comforted by the familiarity that met her gaze. "Daddy," the kit whispered inching her way up the bed. "Hey, daddy!" Rum Tum Tugger groaned pulling a pillow over his head, muffling his daughter's voice.

Bombalurina reached out with a cold foot and nudged her husband's leg which recoiled quickly. "She's talking to you!" the queen said with a stretch. The kitten moved closer as her father moved away, not yet ready to deal with the morning. Impetuoua poked her head under the pillow, her nose brushing her father's. "Tonight's the ball, right daddy?" Tugger feigned sleep trying hard not to smile as she rubbed her tiny nose to his. Discouraged his daughter left him be, ducking back out, if only for a moment. "I kissed a boy!" said the six year old when she reappeared in her father's sanctuary. The tom sat bolt up right, eyes wide. "Mommy told me to say it!" Impetuoua squealed rushing to her mother's side for protection, all the while the red queens were laughing harmoniously together. "That isn't funny!" Rum Tum bellowed pointing a finger at his wife. "That's my daughter!"

Bombalurina looked at him amorously. "I hope you remember that I was once someone's daughter from time to time!" she said crawling towards him on hands and knees, he mate's expression softening as he smirked at her. Impetuoua made gagging sounds as she threw herself about the bed and her parents kissed, passionately. "You know," said Tugger during a break between their lips. "If you'd sleep in your own room, you wouldn't see us kiss." Balurina raised a coy brow at him. "If she slept in her own room we'd have another little bed-warmer to contend with by now!" "Ah," said Tugger kissing his wife again. "But they would be too young to care!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Don't you dare patronize me! You're the guardian, sorry leader, you're the one meant to protect us, so why am I the only one willing to do what's nessacary, willing to do what's right?" Tugger bellowed, his voice harsh and loud in the confines of Munkustrap's living room, in which the meeting was being held. His brother watched him from the other side of the room, with a heavy, tired gaze. "We can't just go out and murder him!" Munkus said in a firm tone, their eyes locking. The cats present were Munkustrap's core, those that he relied upon for strength, guidance, and advice. His father had led through his own indomitable force of wisdom, and will, but he was not his father.

Jenny, from her seat beside Rum Tum reached up a paw to touch his forearm, whispering calming words. Tugger railed on. "He tortured the cats he took Munkus! Your number two will never fight again, might as well releave him of duty right now," he said arms waving about the room wildly. Alonzo bristled hotly but said nothing. "Cassandra is maimed, a lesson for her vanity he claimed, Pouncival won't even talk about what happened, what was done to him, and my daughter won't talk at all! He raped her Munuks, raped her and God knows what else! She was torn a bleeding when we found her or have you forgotten?" he asked, his tone becoming harsh and ragged as he spoke of Impetuoua, who had never in her life seemed smaller or more fragile.

The toms stared one another down, tails thrashing. When Munkustrap seemed resigned to his silence, his jaw grimly set the other tom went on. "You forgot Violetta easy enough!" his words cut deeply, and Munkustrap's fur standing on end took a hasty step towards his brother. "Or what, you think she just went out to play one day and decided not to come home? Wake up Munkustrap! What do you think happened to our little sister? That bastard killed her, and dad, he couldn't handle it, looked the other way, smacked me around when I started asking questions-"

"Dad never hit you!" the silver tabby roared in his father's defense, closing the small gap between the two of them as toms scrambled to prevent any fighting that might occur, hands pulling or pushing the would be combatants towards their respective seats. "Didn't he though?" Tugger went on tearily, his breath rank. "Mom dead, Violetta gone, Macavity manifesting powers, killing things, birds, rats, that Pollicle just for the Hell of it? Dad barley survived any of it, why do you think you and I wound up so fucked?" he asked, voice low and trembling as long held tears trekked their way down his cheeks. "Go home Tugger, you're drunk!" Munkustrap said firmly.

"It's been two fucking weeks! My own daughter won't let me touch her, can't look me in the face, she cries and screams every night! I'm tired of just talking, it's time we take action, and Shanks and Brutus are with me..." Munkustrap looked at the toms who had flanked Tugger when it looked like the two were going to come to blows. Skimble's eyes fell to the floor but he nodded. "What he did to Pounce, and Etcetera, the others" Tumble said his voice clear and full of conviction. "He deserves nothing short of death." Munkustrap look at them, the three made up over a third of his counsel, so readily set against him. "You will go home to your family right now, that is an order!" the Jellicle leader demanded of his brother his gaze steely. There was no warning, the cats were at one another's throats in a heartbeat. With angry hissing and yowls they scuffled, blood drawn from both brawlers in no short order as they stumbled and fell into furniture and surrounding felines.

When as last they were separated, Munkustrap bleeding from a broken nose having got the worst of it, and Tugger held his side as they glared, scornfully at one another. "Rum Tum Tugger," the tabby said pulling himself to stand tall. "I am placing you under house arrest, Alonzo, Skimble," he called his tone harsh as he named the second tom. Though the orange tabby's aligence may stand with Tugger in regards to what would be done about Macavity, Munkustrap was still his commander. "Escort this man home, and see to it that he stays there." Tugger looked bitterly at the brother who's self control and respected position he was once jealous of, how could he be doing this to him? Didn't he know that there was no place worse, more harrowing for Tugger to be than home?

/

"That's it good job Impetuoua, you're doing excellently!" Rum Tum Tugger said holding his daughter's hands as he helped her maintain her balance. The child beamed at her father lovingly. "Are you ready for a leap?" he asked as she clung to his fingers with excitement. Impetuoua giggling nodded. "One, two, three!" Tugger called helping to hoist his daughter by her firmly held grip. "Daddy, when can I go to the ball?" the red little queen asked innocently after a while. "When you're older." her father answered cooping her up into a dance of his own.

The two whirled and leaped around the Yard, Impetuoua squealing. "I can fly!" she enthused holding out her arms and earning a laugh from the dark coasted tom."Looks like fun!" Bombalurina remarked as she stepped out of their house. "Mommy look, daddy's being my wings!" Balurina laughed affectionately at her family. "Just remember 'daddy' you were my wings first, and I still like to dance!" Soon the three of them were holding to one another, gracefully spinning in a fashion not unlike a human waltz, Impetuoua lovingly between her parents.


	3. Chapter 3

It was just after dusk when Bombalurina, Impetuoua in arm waved good bye to her husband and sister as they made their way to the ball. The tall queen wrinkled her nose. Demeter, the poor thing was still pining after the silver guardian. Who would have thought that she and the Rum Tum Tugger would have been settled down, and six years a family while Demeter and Munkus still had yet to declare one another mates? "Mommy," said the kit her voice a bit forlorn. "Why can't I go?" Bombalurina hugged her baby close. "You're not old enough sweetheart." she said gently as she carried her child back home. "Look," she said then pointing to the heavens, causing Impetuoua to turn. "The Jellicle moon!" the kitten chirped happily kicking her feet.

"That's right baby, the Jellicle moon!" Bombalurina said nuzzling her child. "Mommy, can we dance?" Balurina cocked her head to one side playfully. "Hm," she said with exaggerated thought. "I'm not sure, it is offely late!" she looked down at Impetuoua mischievously. "Mommy!" Bombalurina laughed loudly as he daughter plied her with kisses as a bribe. "Of course we can dance!" With that two red figures whirled giggling, in the moonlight, dancing their way home, the youngest calling out "higher," and "faster" at regular intervals.

/

It seemed almost predestined that Gus would be chosen for the Layer this year. He had gotten thinner, his sight was failing him, and appetite all but gone. He was at home with his grandchildren who seemed to sense his time was near. The ball had begun already, and was likely well under way, and Gus was sure that all their friends would be missing them, and in a soft croaking voice would urge them to go on without him. The three lovingly refused, Tumblebrutus speaking with him in a fond, slightly nurturing manner about the grey old tom's youth, while Etcetera from her place on the floor leaned against his trembling knees.

The harsh, raw odor of smoke slowly drifted into the home causing the cats to bristle and look at one another with concern as they approached the door. Red-orange light flickered and wavered in the distance as a fire burned, finger like tendrils reaching high tbe flames licking at the heavens. "Stay here," said Tumblebrutus entrusting his baby sister and aged grandfather to Pouncival's care, the younger tom nodded dutifully. "I need to go see what I can do to help." The brown and white male along with several others who had yet to leave for the ball rushed towards the blaze. "What's going on?" Bombalurina called from her doorway, a sleepy eyed kit clinging to her leg. "Fire," Brutus called. "Big one!"

Balurina turned to her daughter commandingly. "You stay here mommy will be right back!" she said. "Mommy!" Impetuoua whimpered trying to pull her mother back inside. "I'll only be gone a moment, just go inside!" the queen assured before racing off to help preserve her home. Etcetera, holding fast to Gus's arm a wash with both fright and excitement noticed the kit then and stepped out of the doorway. "It's ok, come on Impetuoua, come stay with us until your mommy comes back!" she called with a gentle smile, waving the kitten over. The child gratefully rushed forward to the young queen, her race was halted and she gave shrill scream of fright when a rat, unnaturally large and black lunged forward and seized Etcetera by the wrist.

They were swarming, taking hold of cats, and hauling them away all about the Yard. "Let her go!" Pouncival yelled clawing at the beast, only to be accosted by another and shoved roughly to his knees. The tom struggled, but his vision flared brightly with color before fading to black, the pain came later as he slipped into unconsciousness. "Unhand them!" Gus hissed struggling against the rats which seemed to have little interest in him. The elder raked his claws down one of their greasy furred backs as it slung the gagged but wailing Etcetera over his shoulder. The creature, it's eyes red an soulless took Gus by the back of his neck and pulled him forward, his sharp blade like teeth making quick work of him. The theater cat slumped against the side of the house slowly, his throat a ragged mess of torn ligaments and tissues, blood bubbling from the wound and leaking down the front of his chest.

He reached for the wound absently as his dull eyes, vision hazy surveyed the horrors about him. Rats tore cats from their homes and the clutches of their loved ones, burning and razing homes as they went. He teary eyed watched as his own grandchildren were carried out of sight and off to fall to evils he knew not what. His hand found the wound sure enough, slick and warm as he felt it. His fingers caressed the muscles and the rigid pipe that was his trachea, finding in it a hole into which blood flowed and air escaped. It hurt, but not nearly as bad as he would have thought, still fingering the area as his mind failed to fully comprehend the extent of the damage. He gagged and swallowed, felt the urge to cough as blood slowly filled his lungs, but lacked the strength to do so.

As his vision dimmed and his body convulsed in the throws of drowning, his lungs struggling and trying vainly to fill with air he could not help but cry, and watch the horrors playing out like a cruel scene before him. And what a scene, every player doing their part, every line given as though rehearsed for months, not a soul missed their mark, not even young Impetuoua as she was pulled by tail from her home. His consciousness wavered then, not even Firefrorefiddle could have been so cruel...


	4. Chapter 4

The first thing Pouncival was aware of other than the pain, was the fact that his body was cold, cold and wet. He lifted his head which throbbed and spun as delicately as he could. Gently he caressed the wound, a deep and dirt filled gash meeting his fingertips. The young cat groaned as he forced himself into the sitting position. He found that he was in a rather large and round room, the floor, if it could be called a floor was more of a swine's mud wallow, sticky and damp. There was something about the way the mud looked and reeked against his fur however that was unsettling, but the weary tom couldn't quite make out what in his current state.

The brown and white cat stood and looked around. "Hello?" Pounce called as loud as he dared, fearful of exactly who's attention he would gain. It was then that noticed what appeared to be a wrought iron door and quickly made his way for it. He flinched scurrying back when he came eye to eye with a handful of frightened, starved tom kits on the other side. They hissed and growled at him angrily. Cautiously Pounce crouched down and held a paw out towards them placatingly. "M-my name's Pouncival." he started, pausing to lick chapped and bleeding lips as he glanced about in apprehension. "Do-do you know where we are? Have you seen my sister? Her name is Etcetera, she's stripey." he explained with a nervous smile, the kits backed away from the door.

Pounce sighed backing away slowly. He ran his hands along the walls trying to find any weakness or a switch, another door, anything really. The ceiling was high, too high for him climb even if there were handholds, but there did appear to be a hatch near the center of it. The tom continued to pace irritability for several minutes, trying to speak to the other cats only twice more before he slumped against the rounded wall head in his hands. "I just want to go home!" he wept, lower lip trembling. "Really?" came a soft, coy voice. Pouncival looked up with a start. "Care to prove it?" Macavity asked with a light shrug. "Pl-please don't hurt me!" the kit whimpered. "No promises!" The ginger cat said pinching his cheek fondly.

Pouncival's eyelids fluttered as he flinched and wormed away. When he dared look again he found that his evil captor was gone. His relief was short lived however as he noticed the door stood open, the three toms who had been on the other side creeping towards him, eyes staring wild amid their matted filthy fur. Pounce forced himself to his feet as they broke away from their group, one flanking either side while the last came head on. "Let me tell you how this works 'Pouncival,'" came the weary voice of the cat directly in front of him. "We kill you, we get to live." Heart pounding, eyes wide, and head light with fear Pouncival realized to his horror what was wrong with the mud, why it was sticky, why it was thick, and and stank. The mud was blood stained and red.

/

When Coricopat and Tantomile refused to speak after their rescue the tribe had assumed the worst. Tantomile had, had nearly every finger broken, cuts, bruises, and burns ranged over her entire form, her ribs were cracked and though she refused examination to confirm or tend to the matter she had been sexually abused as well. She stared at her brother, hard over her steaming glass of tea, he had suffered only superficial wounds. Neither had spoken much to the other since their return, something that caused the still healing community to gossip and whisper, but never would the queen tell a soul that it was intruth her brother who had done these atrocities to her, rather than the Hidden Paw who they all believed was responsible.

"I hate you." the queen said her eyes narrowing dangerously. Coricopat who had been tending to the fireplace looked up suddenly. The twins watched one another coldly for several moments before Tantomile repeated herself. "What was I supposed to do Tanto? He would have killed me!" her brother asked trying hard to control his anger, he made himself sick just thinking about it. Bitter tears slipped out of the female's eyes as she stared her brother down. "What would you have done?" he asked.

"I would have died before doing to you what you did to me!" Coricopat hurried across the room fists clenched tightly. "You can't say that, you don't know!" he shouted. Tantomile stared at him harshly. "I know." she said softly, despite her anger. "You need to leave, now." she told him, her voice calm and even. Coricopat returned to the fireplace and proded for a moment at the coals. He hated himself, so driven by his own fear and desire to live that he had tortured his own sister, the cat who was a mirror, an extension of himself really. With a strangled, bitter scream he threw the poker across the room before storming out of their shared home. Tantomile, the heels of her palms buried deep in her eyes as she tried hard not to cry.

"Is everything alright?" Bombalurina asked as Coricopat shoved past her causing her to stumble and nearly drop her basket of goods. "Yeah, fine!" he barked turning on her torn by his own guilt before continuing. He stopped pinching the bridge of his nose. "I-I'm sorry," he said then. "How, um, how is Impetuoua?" he asked realizing that he wasn't the only one in pain. Balurina shook her head. "She won't eat," said the red queen softly. "Can't sleep, doesn't say a word." Bombalurina went on, the mother weak and broken by her daughter's current state.

"I'm so sorry." Cori said giving her shoulder a squeeze, as the female dried a teary eye. His gaze shifted to her basket, he eyed the amber bottle of alcohol half hidden by the bread. Balurina followed his gaze, shifting things around in embarrassment before sighing. "I can't imagine what it must have been like..." she said watching her feet. "But watching my little girl wither away on the inside, knowing what he did to her!" Bombalurina let out a sob. "I'm so sorry!" Cori said pulling her into a hug. He felt for the mother, he really did, but he could not tear his mind from Tantomile. The queen nodded before continuing on her way home from the market place, a tired and forced smile on her lips.


	5. Chapter 5

It was quiet in the house, an unsettling quiet for the time of day. Rum Tum Tugger sat in the hallway, his back to the wall as he, red eyed watched Impetuoua sleep through the open door. She was in her own room, she only slept in her room now. How many times had he complained about her being in his bed? How many times had he wanted to be intimate with his wife, but couldn't because of Impetuoua's presence? His warm loving daughter had become cold, and distant spending hours staring in silence or weeping uncontrollably. Jenny had just been by to remove the stitches, she had waited as long as she could to do it, but they had to come out to prevent infection. Tugger felt a bit guilty about drugging his kit, but the poor child screamed and wailed and fought whenever she was touched, he couldn't imagine what she would have done while he held her legs open for Jenny to do her job.

A part of Tugger wished that he had asked Bombalurina to stay home, to hold her, but the queen's heart was broken enough already so he asked her to do some light shopping instead, get her out of the house entirely. Impetuoua rolled suddenly, both legs shooting out, a gasping type whimper escaping her. The tom scouled. It was all too easy for his mind to play it's cruel tricks on him, for it to imagine his brother laying atop her, their bodies nightmarishly close. The man tearily rubbed his eyes as he heard the front door click open, he turned and caught a glimpse of his wife peering in slightly ashen in the face. "It's done." Tugger said, nodding to Plato who stood guard out their front door. Tugger seethed at the thought of it. Three days he'd been under house arrest now and still not a damn thing was done against the cat who had broken his child's smile, snuffed out her laughter, and murdered her joy.

"How, um" a sick looking Bombalurina slid down the wall to sit beside her husband. "How did it go?" Tugger grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, he shrugged. "I really don't know, I couldn't... I was trying not to think about it even while it was happening." he laughed remorsefully leaning his head so that it hit the wall, eyes squeezed tightly shut. Bombalurina nodded holding out the bottle of amber liquid she had been so embarrassed to buy towards him. He looked at her for half a minute before he could manage to take the gift. Opening it the tom tipped it back and began gulpping down greedily.

"Does it help?" she asked meekly when he had pulled the spirits away from his lips. She watched their daughter while she spoke. Balurina remembered how proud she had been when he gave up drinking for Impetuoua's sake. Tugger was silent for a long moment, he watched the rise and fall of his daughter's breath his wife's head lulling on his shoulder while he took an additional swig every now and then. "No," he said scornfully. "Not really." The red queen nodded her understanding before taking the bottle from him and eyes closed forced the fiery liquid down. She had g stopped drinking the day she broke it off with Macavity, in the beginning it had been difficult to tell which was hardest for her to give up.

"It's all my fault." Bombalurina whispered then. Tugger pulled away, sitting forward to look his wife in the face. "Don't say that, don't you ever say that!" the tom growled. "But it's true, if I had been there I could have protected her, if I hadn't gone to help with the fire-" the queen's words were cut by a sob. "Shh," Tugger cooed pulling her into his lap and smoothing the fur on her head. "You didn't do anything wrong, you couldn't have known, it's not your fault!" he said gently as he rocked Balurina, as if to sleep. "If I had been there," she began but Tugger, holding her shoulders shook her slightly. "If I had been there I could have done something too!" he said trying to convey the point that they had both been powerless to stop what had happened. The way she looked at him, gaze shifting from one eye to the next, lips pressed tightly together as though she wanted to say something hurt the tom deeply.

"Do you blame me?" he asked in an astonished whisper. "Bombalurina, do you blame me?" he asked again, this time more firmly. "No." she replied softly leaning into his strong arms once more. Rum Tum couldn't help but feel betrayed by her hesitation, the hollowness in her embrace. In the other room the tiny red kit thrashed violently, screaming, and crying in her sleep, her sheets knotting about her limbs like ropes causing her to panic more. "Don't touch her!" Balurina urged from her place on the floor as Tugger got up. "That only makes it worse..." Tugger stood at his daughter's bedside, fists clenched tightly, seething with rage as he watched her fight against invisible adversaries he was in real life unable to denfend her from. He scooped her up then, moving quickly, and holding tight as she kicked and screamed and bit. "It's alright Impetuoua, everything's going to be alright!" he sobbed, Balurina coming to join him.

/

Tugger strutted confidently across the Yard, catching the eye of many females. Some of them didn't look anymore though, not glance since he became a father. For some such as Cassandra however, the development seemed to make him even more appealing, forbidden fruit. She walked close to him, their shoulders brushing. He blinked waving away her new perfume with exaggerated disgust and disdain. The abyssinian's eyes widened with anger and offense before she continued on her way across the Yard. "What a mess!" Tugger scoffed to his older brother, motioning to the queen with a thumb. Where he had been a playboy during his bachelor hood Cassandra was a known man eater, with a taste for married variety. Munkustrap shrugged with a laugh. "Be nice." he instructed. "Tell her," Tugger complained. "Balurina and I need one night, just one night to ourselves, and I've got miss roses and lilac pushing up against me!"

Munkustrap laughed, patting his brother affectionately on the shoulder. "Fatherhood not working out like you planned?" he asked. "No, it's great, really I love it, but it's the you know," Tugger said swinging hips hips lusciously. "That I miss." Munkus nodded. "Ah, well, good luck with that." he laughed before moving away through the crowd to greet other members to the Ball. Tugger found a quiet place for him to lounge as the others trapsed about, laughing and gossiping. The younger cats began to flit and spring about almost immediately as friends greeted one another. No one began dancing in earnest for some time, Tugger waiting until later to join, after his father had arrived, and the yearly play his brother seemed to enjoy putting on I'm his honor.

Nothing seemed a miss, the cats were blind to the dangers that were about to befall them. "How is your family?" Deuteronomy asked Tugger coming to sit by the tom who looked ready to turn in early. "Good," he smiled. "Balurina wants more kids!" he laughed. His father patted him on the back rolling with mirth himself. It was then that the distant smell of smoke wafted into the Yard. Every cat leaped to their feet and turned their noses to the wind, scenting, trying to discover the source. "Fire!" Alonzo's voice cried out as the black and white rushed away towards the east end of the Yard where the homes lay. Tugger's brows furrowed when he heard his father in a low whispering voice say, "Oh my wayward son, I am so sorry it has had to come to this." Tugger turned about to ask Deuteronomy what he meant by his words when a cold fear lanced through his heart.

Deuteronomy stood glass eyed for a moment as the blade ran down the length of his abdomen, from sternum to pelvis, blood staining his dusty grey pelt. The Jellicle leader tried to take a step forward falling over his innards as waste seeped from his bowls and into his blood stream. Tugger watched, the entire world slowing to a crawl as his father and leader in both government and religion fell unceremoniously to the ground. He couldn't speak, couldn't breathe as those around his screamed and cried out with terror. Macavity laughed loud and long in victory before vanishing without uttering a word. Time stopped. Nothing happened for the space of what seemed like eons. Then, Tugger let out a breath, a strangled cry tearing itself from his throat.

"Dad!" he cried rolling his father over, brushing a hand across the face he had known since his birth. "Daddy?" Rum Tum whispered softly. Deuteronomy's eyes fluttered open, he smiled. "My little Tail Tugger," he croaked squeezing his hand, before reaching, turning away slightly. "Munkustrap," he called weakly. "Where's Munkustrap?" he asked. "Where's my son?" Tugger gripped his father's shoulder trying to assure to the dying cat that he was not alone. "I'm right here father." the silver tabby said in a broken voice coming to the tom's other side. "Take care of them, Munuks, take care of my people." Munkustrap nodded as Deuteronomy let go of his other son turning to the stripped tom. "I will!" the guardian promised burying his face into his father's slick fur. "I, I knew I could trust you! I Iove you." He called his voice weak and eyes blearily distant. A breath rattled inside his chest, and Deuteronomy slipped away.

Tugger backed away from the gory scene until his back struck something solid, hands held to his temples, he screamed eyes impossibly wide. The leopard spotted tom screamed again and again. His father was dead, his father was dead, and had barely registered his presence. Tugger was a raging torrent of emotion, anger, grief, disbelief, remorse, and an inexplicable amount of jealousy and spite. He was sick with emotion, staring at his father's lifeless form this, this must be what it's like to be insane, to be Macavity, he thought.


	6. Chapter 6

"We would be- we would be giving up our rights to the Layer." Bombalurina whispered as she lay, head on her husband's chest, her voice laced with anxiety and fear. Tugger stroked her cheek absently with his thumb, staring at the darkness of their bedroom ceiling willing his clouded and troubled mind into an uneasy order. "Tugger," Balurina started again tracing circles on his chest with a finger. "We couldn't really just leave-" she paused, trying to find any further points valid enough to argue her case other than voicing her own fears. "The Yard has always been-" she was going to say 'safe' but the word molded on her tongue her expression souring at the cruel irony. She took a breath and tried again, failing to get a good look at her husband in the dark.

"What is more important to you," he snapped angrily, removing his arm from about her shoulders. "More important for our daughter? Living with the hope that one day you could, maybe, be born into a better life than this one, or living the life you're given with as much safety, and happiness as possible?" Balurina could feel her mate trembling beneath her, hear the beat of his heart quicken, and smell his rage, fear, and remorse. She was stung with a guilt all her own thinking of the way she had been treating him lately, she sighed pulling closer to him. "He couldn't protect us as guardian, he has no right claiming that he can as leader." Tugger said scornfully as he spoke of his brother. "So it would be just us then, out there on the streets?" Tugger shook his head firmly. "No, I'm taking anyone who will come with me. Macavity knows the Yard, he was fucking born here, any one who stays will fall prey to him sooner or later."

The queen nodded grimly, "So we're running then?" Tugger sat up slightly while Balurina cringed realizing how her words must have sounded. "No, we aren't running, we're surviving, and then when I know that you and Impetuoua are safe from any retribution I am going to find that fucking animal and I am going to kill him, slowly!" Tugger said his voice hard and sharp. They stared at one another through the veil of darkness, their shared pain stretching out between them like a vast and turbulent ocean. Tugger reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose as the first silent tears slipped out of his eyes.

Bomb sat up and placed her hands on her husband's chest, easing him back down. "I know you will." she said kissing him passionately, hands coming to run through his hair as he slowly, intimately began to kiss back. "You're going to make him suffer." she said swinging a leg over him so that she could straddle his waist, hands running the length of his torso, enticing him. "Cut him, burn him, break him, feed him shattered glass, drown him in acid, let him be torn apart by Pollicles." she said marking each command with a kiss. "Make the monster beg for death!" she said tearily as they joined their bodies together. They kissed then, clinging to one another in the dark, the burden of their grief crashing down over them, they wept as they made love.

Tugger's claws raked through the fur along his wife's back, biting into her skin as they ran down her buttocks and along her thighs receiving pleasured moans as she rocked faster atop him. "I want you to break every bone in his body!" Balurina gasped out as Tugger sat pulling her closer, deepening the connection. She cupped his face in her hands, they were near enough now to make out one another's features in the night. Their experessions were torn and faces tear stained, their souls slowly dying inside despite the ecstasy of their physical forms. "When that sadistic prick has finally lost all hope of the pain ever ending, that is when I want you to do it, that's when I want you to kill him!" Balurina whispered her lips trembling. It was her fault, as it had been with Demeter, if she had never gotten involved with the fiend her little sister would never have been raped, if she had never left Impetuoua alone years later her daughter might not have befallen the same terrible fate. The only hope the red queen clung to now was the hope of Macavity's death, and sorrowfully her husband knew it.

The two wound and rolled about the bed for several moments crying and moaning, until they found paradise. Their breath heavy as husband and wife lay beside one another tracing gentle caresses over chests, or hips, or throats as the fatigue they had been carrying for nearly three weeks set in once again. "Do you think-" Bombalurina started before halting herself. Tugger pulled her close resting his chin of her head. "What?" he asked quietly, giving her a squeeze of encouragement. "Do you think Impetuoua will ever be alright?" the queen voiced her deepest concern. Tugger rubbed one of her ears in an affectionate manner "I hope so." he whispered, his voice breaking. Balurina stroked his hair pulling his head onto her bosom as she blinked back tears of her own allowing her husband to cry, comforting him as she would an anxious kit.

/

It was in the afternoon that Pouncival, brown and white fur characteristically disheveled, and his face still bearing light claw marks walked across the Yard. He hadn't spoken much in the time since he came home, none of the returnees had. In a matter of four short days and a handful of abducted and abused members and the murder of their leader Macavity had effectively altered tribe life all together. The young tom still smiled though, laughed on occasion, and was more himself than some, much to his mother's relief. He nodded a brief and awkward hello to Jemima as he passed her by, the two had shared and unspoken interest in one another, but that was before, where now their friendship was greatly strained. The young queen unsure of how to act around her victimized friends clung to Victoria's side, the two supporting one another in their joint loss of security, drowning in a world they no longer understood, adults shushing them at every turn.

Coming to the door he rapped on in lightly, smiling to Bombalurina when she opened the door. "Hello." the tom said while the queen taken aback looked curiously at the unexpected visitor. "Pouncival, hi, um come in, how are you?" she stammered a bit. The tom was usually more trouble than he was worth, a prankster, and a hooligan at heart. As of late however he was more reseved, and well behaved, it was unsettling to see such a change occur so quickly, more so given the circumstances. "Would you like something to drink?" she asked leading him into the living room. "Thank you, but no." he said shaking his head. Balurina smiled, wringing her hands slightly, hoping he couldn't smell the nip she had, had on her breath. Tugger had drank himself fitful the hour before lamenting for the loss of his father, stumbling down the hall and into bed where he now snored loudly.

"Did you need something?" the red cat asked him then. "No," Pounce said a bit sheepishly. "I just brought a present for Impetuoua is all." Balurina smiled slightly, noticing for the first time, the teddy bear he held loftily in one hand. "I-is that alright?" he asked suddenly unsure of himself his face falling. He had always treated Impetuoua much like he had his only sister up until now, as a nuisance he would be gladly rid of, he felt unjustifiably judged by the queen's stare. Balurina smiled down at him with a warm motherly affection, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder.

She mentally berated herself when he shied away a bit, though he didn't cry out as her daughter would have. "She's in her room coloring." Balurina said leading the way. Impetuoua had always been a very artistic child and loved drawing with a passion. As of late however her renderings were nothing more that dark formless scribbles the meaning of which known only to her as she mashed and wore her crayons down to unusable stubs. She was doing just that when to two appeared at her doorway.

"H-hey Impetuoua," Pounce said walking up to her slowly. She looked at him, her wide soulful eyes tired and sad and so very hurt and confused. "I brought you something." the tom smiled holding up the bear. The kitten looked at the toy rather emotionlessly for a few moments before she reached for it. Pouncival watched her examine the stuffed animal before placing it in her lap and returning to her scribbles. He grinned when he caught her hugging it. "Would it be alright if I colored with you?" he asked after a minute, Impetuoua looked at him in thought before sliding a blank sheet of paper in his direction. "Thank you." said the fifteen year old as he pulled up one of her chairs which was comically small for him, his long legs shooting out the other end of the table.

Bombalurina couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the tom, as he discussed with her kit what he should draw, Impetuoua communicating through a series of shrugs. The queen as she leaned against the doorframe couldn't help but in a guilty, self loathing way be grateful for whatever it was, because of the compassion he was showing to her daughter, whose own uncle couldn't stand to see her for more than a minute at a time, and hadn't been by in the week and a half since Tugger's house arrest.


	7. Chapter 7

A cry in the night woke the tribe with a burning anxiety that roiled about the Yard like a living thing. It was loud and long and languishing. Bombalurina sprinted for her daughter's room at once, claws extended, fur on end, if anyone would come for Impetuoua, it would have to be over her dead body. The child stood wide eyed and afraid in the middle of the room, trembling as she wet herself in fear. "It's going to be alright." Balurina assured, the pinch in her tone betraying her doubt. The Rum Tum Tugger rushed past them and out the front door nearly knocking a stunned looking Tumblebrutus, who had been on duty as Tug's nurse maid for much of the evening, to the ground. The young and newly named guardian in Alonzo's stead started feeling someone come up from behind. "What happened?" Tugger demanded to know, fierce, eyes blazing the tom was ready to kill.

"I-I don't know, it's Skimble he- You're not supposed to be outside." he stammered over coming some of his surprise, the youth reminded himself firmly that he was now guardian to the Jellicle tribe. The feeling of authority gave him some small comfort in the situation which was out of his control. "Yeah?" Tugger asked hotly, shoving the tom against the side of his house. "Stop me!" he said walking towards the harrowing sounds as friends and neighbors hurried to their front doors, curious and fearful in the early morning light of a pink sky.

Skimbleshanks his orange fur a matted bed worn mess knelt a few feet away from his front door, bent over an unmoving lump. He was wailing loudly. "Skimble?" Tugger whispered approaching him slowly, a trembling hand reaching out as his eyes adjusted to the dim morning and the lump began taking a very familiar shape. "I didn't know!" the orange tom screamed hugging Electra tightly to him. "I didn't know," he repeated. "She seemed, she seemed fine, I didn't think-" the cat screamed as Tugger knelt beside him, a hand on his shoulder. "What happened?" the maned cat asked his voice lilting, and the answer painfully obvious. "I went- I had to check on her, I've been so afraid I'd wake up and she'd be gone!" the railway cat managed to choke out. "The door wouldn't open, so I pushed, I pushed and- and-" Skimble hugged his daughter's body. "Why didn't she tell me? Why couldn't she come to me?" he asked somberly as a crowd gathered. There was a moment of intense still as Skimble sat staring into the distance. "Why didn't I check on her sooner?" he asked turning to his friend. Tugger felt strangely numb, he couldn't think of a solitary word to say as he watched Skimble mourn, beating his fists against head.

The tom backed away as Jenny rushed over towards them, calling for help. Jelly brought a blanket and threw in gingerly over the dead kit as her own daughter screamed at the bloody sight that was her best friend in all the world. "No!" Skimble hissed uncovering his child's face, her once bright eyes dull and staring. "She's not dead, she's not dead!" Tugger turned for home, he couldn't be here. His chest squeezed tightly how had the world gone so wrong? He met his brother's gaze as he stepped through the crowd, their venerable leader. Neither could manage speech, Tugger shook his head angrily.

"What's happening?" Balurina asked when he stepped through the front door. Tugger didn't answer. "Baby, what's going on?" she repeated a soft hand under his jaw turning his head and grabbing his attention so that he would look at her. "It's Electra," he said with a bitter half smile. "She killed herself." The tom looked past his wife to his daughter. All he wanted in that moment was to scoop her up and hold her close, rub their noses against one another's as they once did affectionately, but it wasn't going to happen. He knew it was wrong to feel this way, the lack of empathy, the disjointed way he thought of his neighbor huddled in the street cradling the body of his only child, but he couldn't help it, he couldn't manage to feel anything but detachment in that moment. He just couldn't cry anymore, not one tear for the young queen who used to follow him around in infatuation, who sat for Impetuoua and made a general nuisance of herself. "I, I'm going to bed." he said leaving his wife in a state of loss. "Tugger," she said softly, halting him mid stride. "When do we leave?"

/

Alonzo watched the commotion in the Yard from his perch, a particularly loathsome expression on his face as he watched Tumblebrutus moving about among the other cats. Macavity had been cruel, playing on the black and white tom's naturally protective personality, and his desire for a place of honor among the pride. He had fought hard against the rats who had come to take the tribe members away, but it hadn't been enough. The Hidden Paw took great pleasure in the torment he placed upon the cat, making Alonzo watch, or listen to what was being done to the others, whispering insults, making him feel helpless to save them.

Alonzo was strong, and Macavity had underestimated him however, he'd managed to break his bindings and attack the vile creature, it this his crowning act yet one that had earned him his badly mangled leg. The bones couldn't quite be set and as they healed he was left with a permanent twist midway down the limb. Macavity had been right about one thing in his mad ravings, Alonzo did hate the cat who replaced him, for nothing more than doing what he had once loved. The tom deep in thought was slightly startled when Cassandra leapt up beside him. He looked at her from the corner of her eye trying not to stare.

The abyssinian's mouth twisted in a sour half smile when she caught him doing just that. Down below them mourners came and gone to pay Skimble their respects, the tom having buried his daughter only hours before. He sat dull eyed, removed from everything going on around him, while the eldest queens, Jenny and Jelly, healers both, took charge of his home, the pair having scrubbed it clean of the blood.

"Well I guess I can't follow in her foot steps, it would be terribly out of fashion." the cool brown queen beside Alonzo sighed. He whirled on her red with anger. "This isn't a joke!" he berated her. "Did I ever say it was?" she hissed turning to face him, her visage a mass of swollen pink tissue, scars forming from where the fire that had scorched her. Alonzo averted his gaze, the two had, had a fling in the past and seeing her like this now hurt. "It's funny though," she mused more to herself as the tom recalled the way she had sounded when she screamed in agony. "I really never was beautiful to begin with..."


	8. Chapter 8

It was wet where the cats huddled together in miserable little groups beneath the overpass. Impetuoua lay bundled in a handful of sheets her head resting in her mother's lap. She watched the rain dripping down from the road above cringing at the thought of it. The water reeked, tainted by asphalt and gasoline, yet the kitten in her thirst had made the mistake of drinking some of it. Impetuoua began vomiting almost immediately afterwards and was now suffering from a stomach ache that had her in tears.

Bombalurina leaned with her back against the wall which rumbled and shook, her eyes closed as she stroked the top of her daughter's head. It was the most contact she had, had with her since the kit had returned home, and she relished it. Demeter whose love and loyalty won out over her affection for the new Jellicle leader came to sit beside them. "How's she doing?" the queen asked gently, resting her head on the other queen's shoulder. "Better, I think." Balurina sighed.

The red queen opened her eyes and surveyed the ragged group who had come with them, hungry, cold, and tired each of them. It was difficult to believe that they had managed to convince anyone to come along at all. The Jellicles, whether born to the tribe or integrated later in their lives were all very tight knit, and set in their ways and traditions. She didn't doubt that it was the fear that drove the others alone, rather than ant sort of alliance to Tugger, the reluctant leader. For afterall it was fear that had driven them from their home as well.

Plato the former rogue turned Jellicle had been the first to join them, aside from Demeter. He had volunteered to be on guard the night of the escape all but insuring their success. His gleaming white and red coat damp and sullen however, the tom looked ready to mutiny as he glared at the rain. Skimble, with nothing left to tie him to the Yard had come to, Balurina wouldn't doubt if he hadn't hoped to find his own demise along the hazardous roads and byways. The orange cat sat perilously near the edge as though willing something to happen, his fur sodden and clinging. She had feared at first that the tom would take his own life after suffering all that he had, but he still held on, embittered by the thought of going the same way he had lost his daughter.

It was Cassandra who had been the most unexpected member of their renegade tribe. She surprised everyone with her spirit and eagerness to help. Where Macavity's evil deeds seemed to have broken all the others the queen seemed that much stronger for it, more than pulling her own weight she was intruth the cat who managed to keep the others spirits high at the moment, urging them on, always smiling. Balurina would be lying if she said she hadn't hated the abyssinian in the past, but now she seemed more, real, and less like the facade she had put on for so long, being what others had expected her to be. The brown queen, her face still healing sat conversing with Tumblebrutus, and Coricopate, the toms last minute additions, along with Jenny who was trying to get Tugger to eat something of the provisions they had left.

Balurina sighed, she was deeply concerned for her husband. Leaving the Yard had been harder than any of them would have expected. Unlike Balurina and her sister the maned tom had been born there, his mother and father were buried there. She knew he had hoped to convince Munkustrap and the remaining tribe members to come with them, in the end though his efforts had earned him only three more additions.

"Do you think he's going to be alright?" Bomb asked her sister as she watched the tom turn aside yet another meal. Demeter was silent for several moments before answering. "He's strong," she observed plainly. "But he has also suffered a lot, and for longer than any of us have realized." she turned to the red queen. "Had he ever spoken to you about Violetta before?" Balurina shook her head. "No, I had no idea he had a sister before any of this." she confessed eyes filled with worry.

/

Munkustrap looked at the rain with a somber expression. He was the Jellicle leader, the well being of more than two dozen individuals rested securely at feet, and yet his own brother hadn't the trust in his ability enough to stay.

He played all of the little scenes over in his head. They'd argued a few days before the renegades took flight, and then nearly came to blows the night they did leave, trying to slink away like criminals by moonlight. 'Please,' Tugger had said when Munkustrap confronted their group in the Yard. 'It isn't safe here, it never has been, not since Macavity went rogue.' he'd paused there and the two glared at one another, a crowd forming around them. Tugger had turned to Munkustrap as he spoke his next words decidedly loud hoping to draw the attention of the others. 'We should leave, all of us, now.'

'And where would you have us go?' Munkustrap remembered Jellylorum call out from somewhere in the crowd. A hush fell, Munkustrap repeated the queen's question. Tugger smiled then, as though the answer was obvious 'Anywhere,' he had answered. 'Anywhere but here.' Munkustrap recalled how his tail had thrashed violently to this challenge, but he tried to stay even headed and had said nothing. 'And when we're settled, and safe, I'm going to find Macavity, and I'm going to kill him.' Tugger went on. Tumblebrutus had called out from the mass of onlookers then. 'You're going after Macavity?'

Tugger had nodded, the brown and white tom, and newly named guardian came to stand beside the maned cat amid his mother's protests. 'I'm old enough to make my own decisions, besides I think we should all go.' he had argued with her but Jellylorum remained insistent. Munkustrap tried to reason with him then, reminded him of his duties, but the youth shrugged them off with seemingly all the ease in the world.

The tabby hunkered down, his mind returning to the present as a bolt of lightning split the sky, this rain would prove to be a long one. He watched the sour weather, brooding over the thought of being abandoned first by the brother he idolized as a kit, and then the one he had felt it was his duty to look after. Even the queen he loved, yet never had the courage tell had left him. He had pretended to be strong, pretended that Tugger's words and actions did not wound him as terribly as they did. He had watch the indomitable Jennyanydots gather her medical equipment and leave with them, saying their needs, in facing the dangers of the world were far greater than those of the cats who had remained. Besides, she had reasoned with him, Jelly although not fully trained had also apprenticed the old medicine cat in her youth.

Coricopate, was the mystery however, he had hesitated, watched as the timorous group filed away before taking after them without so much as a glance back, neither did his sister attempt to stop him. Munkus lay his head in his hands, so much for the love and loyalty of family.

He felt dark inside, dark and foreboding, much like the rain that had settled over the Yard. He doubted now more than ever in his ability to lead let alone defend the cats under his care. Munkus wished now, and not for the first time that he had gone with Tugger, but his vanity and pride had held him back. Besides, he told him himself and the first sobs rocked his body, he could never leave the Yard, the Yard was his home.

/

Thank you to Pouncii for helping me with this one, I was pretty stuck until I talked it out with you! XD


	9. Chapter 9

Impetuoua was scared and alone. It was dark where she was being held and the hard floor she was sitting on cold. She cried as any small children would have, her wide eyes swollen and sore, body trembling weakly. The red kitten's throat was raw from how she had screamed for her parents in the beginning, but she was quiet now and struggling against the lull of sleep. She thought dismally of the hunger gnawing at her belly, and dire situation she found herself in. The child flinched away from a scraping sound behind her, fearfully believing that one of the large ugly rats who had stolen her from her home, ripped her from beneath her parents' bed where she had hid by her tail had come to torment her.

As the kit relaxed she felt her heavy eyelids begin to droop no matter how she fought it, then and she was submerged in utter darkness. She stirred after what felt like only a few moments. The six year old smiled feeling suddenly warm and safe, wrapped in a gentle embrace, someone singing softly to her. Impetuoua's thumb slipped into her mouth, a childish comfort her mother had been trying to break her of for the past year. She began drifting back into sleep as she was rocked. A hand rubbed her back then and she snuggled closer to the person holding her, at first forgetting where she was, thinking she was in the protective arms of her father. When the hand slowly creeped between her legs she sat up and pushed away from the tom who was holding her. He was tall and thin with a ginger coat and eyes that turned the girl's stomach.

He shushed the child and pulled her back into his lap, rocking and singing to her once more. "It's alright." Macavity whispered stroking the kit's fur. Slowly she began to relax, he cooed to her, told her everything would be fine, and when she had finally began to drift away again the hand moved back to where it was before. She struggled but he was stronger. "It doesn't feel that bad does it?" he asked simply. Impetuoua's eyes welled, it didn't feel good, it wasn't nice and it made her tummy ache, but she didn't say anything, she was too afraid to.

Her heart was racing as he returned to his singing and she buried her face dismally into the fur of his chest as she started to cry. There was a sharp pinch then, on the inside, and she struggled to get away, screaming that it hurt, it wasn't nice, she just wanted to go home. The tom laughed his gentle embraces turning forceful as he pinned her to the ground. The kitten whimpered pitifully, "I want my daddy!" she cried as his weight came crushing down on her. "I know." he hissed cruelly into her ear before her body was torn by a fiery pain.

/

Impetuoua woke with a scream, scooting until her back pressed against the wall, where she face buried in her hands screamed again. "Baby?" came her mother's anxious voice from the other side of the door, though she didn't dare to open it. Impetuoua looked about herself, insuring that she was home, she was safe. "I'm fine mom." the young red queen answered hugging her pillow tightly. She hated that dream, that memory, eight years now she'd been carrying the pain of what had happened to her, though in her dreams it was all painfully abrupt, escalating to the harrowing conclusion far faster than had happened in reality, where the cruel mind games, the comforting songs and gentle caresses all coincided with the burning and terrible pain he had inflicted upon her.

Impetuoua's parents knew that some nights would be harder on the girl than others, their lives adapting around the trauma as they had adapted to their more rugged lifestyle outside of the Yard. The fourteen year old sat on her bed for a long while. Some days she was filled with an intense anger, a rage, that sent her storming about her home. She broke things on those days. Other times she was immensely fragile, spending all day in bed weeping, while on yet others still she became withdrawn and drew in her secret journal.

It would kill her parents to know the dark images she penned. To see the horrors put down as seen through the child's eye she had once possessed. But it was therapeutic in a way, every now and then she would draw him, the vile act at hand and then burn the page while the tribe slept reveling in the brief power she felt watching the red-orange flames devour him and his crime as though they could erase the past all together.

With a sigh the queen got out of bed a d smoothed out her fur before heading to the kitchen for breakfast. "Mommy, Daddy." she said going to each of her parents and pecking them on their cheeks. Her mother always smiled as though she still expected to be shied away from, while her father always looked at her in the same sad manner, as though she could shatter at any moment. It made conversations between the two difficult as the girl knew it caused him pain to think of how he had found her, broken, bloody, used, and ruined.

The meal was a quiet event that morning, Impetuoua offering to do the dishes when everyone had finished leaving her parents to themselves. Dishes was one of the few chores she enjoyed, that and cooking. She liked the quiet, and being left alone to think, though often times, especially when she was washing knives her mind took vengeful, murderous detours.


End file.
